All Ribbons and Bows

Sometimes things might seem great. Might even seem completely awesome. Like writing your first chapter. You read it over and think, "Yeah this is totally the one!" But then after you finish the entire Manuscript of course, your CP's have a whole other opinion about it. And yes, they tore it to shreds.

Now, you may cry. You may even get mad. You may even email them or say things to others like "Can you believe this???" Well, yes. Yes I can believe it. In some instances (Rare) instances your CP might actually be a half bubble off. In others though, they are telling you good things.

Whenever I get a MS back that I sent to Cp's first I read all the comments. I close the window, once I'm finished, and a day or two later I re-look the notes over. Why? Why not just hack away and fix? Because sometimes taking advice from others requires a certain finesse. Now when I reopen these notes, I might not agree with everything. Point is I must have a clear goal, with three questions and answers.

 What's the questions: Will this change make this better?, Is this information necessary?, Can this be moved without changing the story or confusing the reader?

If the first is a YES, change whatever CP suggested. The second is a NO don't remove that from your story. The third and final is a YES then try to find a place for it.

We learn something new everyday. Recently I learned how to make my beginnings better, and make a reader care about the character. :)

Recently what have you learned? When you get editorial notes back how do you handle them?